Impact vs. Benefit

When chartering a project it's good to discuss both the impact and the benefit. But these are two separate activities and perspective.

Impact are the results that manifest themselves from your effort. These impacts should be measurable and easy to understand. You should be able to measure some impact points immediately after your activity and then others manifest themselves through time. Both are important to measure.

Benefits are the aide and boost that's given to each area. Many times a benefits analysis is broken into all parties involved. Benefits project who is impacted and how. They are your goals for who takes gain and growth from the effort.

Impact and Benefits should not be mistaken as the same point. The key difference is that Impact points are the results outside that are measurable and benefits are the less tangible results with teams involved.

Challenge: Think through both impact and benefits as you charter any new project. It will help you map a much better strategy and potential for results management.